Recommendations needed on buying a bandsaw mill

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

I have some acreage with timber on it, and I decided that I want to sell lumber rather than trees. I have the equipment necessary to cut the trees and get the logs out of the woods, but I'll need to buy a bandsaw mill. I want to emphasize that this is a business move, and the bandmill would be getting used at least several days a week for at least the next year or two. I'm not talking about getting a little hobby mill to only use a couple of weeks a year.

I refuse to hire an employee so this will have to be a bandmill that won't beat me to death trying to use. I've seen bandmills that range in price from $5000 to $30,000 and I would love input from anyone with experience. I would rather get a nice bandmill but I don't want to buy one that would require several people to run. Which of the bells and whistles are real production enhancers?

I despair of talking to the dealers and salesmen. They are only interested in making a sale and they tell me what they think I want to hear rather than what I need to hear.

-- Woody in SC Kentucky (woodmeister@hotpop.com), September 02, 2001

Answers

I don't know about bandsaw mills, but I've seen a portable circular saw mill that works great with one man operation. The log sits in a long cradle and the saw runs back and forth the legnth of it. There are three blades, one large horizontal blade to cut along the wide dimension and two smaller vertical blades to cut the width of the board. There are several cranks with graduations to set the blades after each cut. It is powered by an air cooled volkswagen engine. Once you have the settings locked in, you throw the lever and the saw cuts its own way down the log. When it reaches the end, a sensor lever drops down, the blades stop and the carriage returns pushing the freshly cut plank off and onto the truck or stack. Since the log is stationary, the machine is very easy to operate. The biggest task is getting the log in position.

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 02, 2001.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/kvn.rob/millingmasters.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/milling/messages I also would like to get a mill someday. Perhaps the links above might help. I would recommend the hydraulics for lifting and turning logs,

-- ed (edfrhes@aol.com), September 02, 2001.

There is a Wood Mizer made up here in Indianapolis that is great I have 2 friends that own one each and they swear by them. It may be one word. Try both ways on the Web.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), September 02, 2001.

I met a woman a week ago that had a round blade saw mill - like the kind mentioned above with three saws. She was getting reject wood from the local mill and sawing it all up to build all sorts of stuff around her house. When she is done, she plans on selling it for $10,000 - the same she paid for it.

I told her I was thinking of getting some sort of mill some day. She said to be sure to not get the band saw kind. Not only does it not cut as smoothly, but if there happens to be some old barbed wire or a nail in the wood, you'll break the band. With the circular saws you just break a tooth and the blade still works.

I thought these were some interesting points.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), September 03, 2001.


Since your kind of going to be a commercial operation, if budget allows, there are lots of smaller band rigs out there. I have alot of trade publications that come each month in the mail as I used to have a sawmill business. Still have the mill, but its a circle rig with large diesel power. Can't really do much with it alone, one of the reasons I quit sawing. I noticed several band models advertised that boast of high production with one operator. At one time I sent for info. Price at that time was a bit over 20K, not too bad for a business investment. They were set up with Hyd everthing to make it possible to run alone, plus a system to return the just cut piece for further sawing or stacking. That's the key. I can saw alone on my circle rig, but I have to run around to the other side all the time to stack or remove slabs. Just takes too much time and wears you out. If your interested I will look thru my stuff for a few numbers for you. Or you may wish to get a free Sub. to those magazines yourself. American Lumberman and Pallet has a bunch of mill ads and contacts for about anything in the industry. The Logger and Lumberman is another. I'm sure they have websites too. Taladega Machinery, Taladega, AL. is a broker for used sawmill and logging machinery and has listings from all timbering states. They are on line,I think. You might save quite a bit used. Sawmillexchange.com is another. I'm always interested to talk mills. Don

-- Don (dairyagri@yahoo.com), September 03, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ